35 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2010/2152(INI)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the Commission once again states that trade opening leads to higher productivity, contributes to increased external competitiveness and could contribute immediately to more than 1.5% of direct economic growth and bring significant consumer benefits, however it should be point out that the multiple crisis have shown that this model has arrived at a limit and that new proposals should be put on the table,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas it is estimated by the Commission that 18% of the Union’s labour force, or 36 million jobs, are dependent on the Union’s trade performance and whereas the comparison between trade opening and employment over the past 10 years shows that trade opening goes together with employment and job creation, but it should be pointed out that those figures are not showing the number of jobs that have been lost by relocations of enterprises and disappearance of economic activities in the EU; whereas that this dependence should be reduced by the creation of alternatives, as trade opening has limits;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas, bearing in mind the Union’s demographic estimates and their adverse effects on the growth potential, it is paramount to harness, and benefit from, the growth potential inherent inreview the restrictive migration policy of the EU, as the increasinge of productivity, and the growth potential inherent in external trade, is not unlimited;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes in generalTakes note of the triple objectives of Europe 2020 of smart, inclusive and sustainable growth and the Commission’s Communication ‘Trade, Growth and World Affairs’; at the same time, profoundly regrets that the Communication, while appropriately addressing many current issues on the trade agenda, does not present a forward-looking and innovative future strategy on trade and investment taking into account the new challenges of the EU regarding climate change, the food and development crisis, and the financial crisis;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. RegretNotes that many targeted goals of the Global Europe Strategy have not been reached as yet, and would have expected a more critical analysis of the Strategynd that some of them contradict the objectives of the EU for sustainable development, and would have expected a more critical analysis of the Goals and Strategy in order to adapt it to the real needs of the EU citizens and with a view to a better understanding of certain failures to achieve;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Considers that contrary to what is stated in the communication of the Commission, it is not so clear that the opening of a market automatically produces growth, job creation and diversification of goods everywhere and considers that the EU should address more carefully the issues of relocation of enterprises and deindustrialisation of the EU, ensure the economic diversity in the EU, and protect sensitive economic activities that are important for job creation and economic diversity of the EU;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Considers that the trade policy of the EU should be more oriented to support economic activity and job protection and creation in the EU and less oriented to support EU investors and corporate investing abroad; considers that those investors and corporations that are relocating their activities outside the EU to increase their profit regardless of the loss of jobs, shouldn’t receive any EU subsidies;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. considers that the excessive pressure of the EU on developing countries to force them to open their market for European investors and corporations makes it difficult for the EU to succeed in proposing an effective sustainable development agenda to its partners; considers that the EU should diversify its trade relations, and reinforce partnerships and alliances with developing countries sharing the same values with the EU;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. RegretUnderstands that many Union citizens equate globalisation with falling European output and job losses;, calls therefore on the Commission and the Member States to adopt a better communication strategy on the Union’s trade policy and the advantages and disadvantages of international tradechange in substance the Union’s trade policy;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Reiterates that the multilateral trading system, embodied in the WTO, remains by far the bestWTO that has to be reformed, is a good framework for achieving free and fair trade on a global basis; considers, however, that the WTO system should be reformed in order to increase its effectiveness, and that the EU should develop proposals to strengthen the WTO and to extend its rulemaking capacity to new areas of trade policy (e.g. prohibition of export taxes) and answer to challenges of sustainable development, and that the EU should develop proposals for its adequate integration in a balanced global governance;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Reiterates that all new FTAs concluded by the EU should be WTO- compatible, comprehensive, ambitious, lead to real reciprocal market access and go beyond both existing multilateral commitments and those expected to result from a successful conclusion of the DDA; wWelcomes the progress made in some negotiations; at the same time regrets that most of the negotiations have not been concluded yet; concerning trade negotiations with developing countries, asks the Commission to analyse what could be done or changed in order to conclude outstanding FTA negotiations better and faster; asks the Commission to analyse the possibility of including WTO dispute settlement mechanisms in bilateral Free Trade Agreementrade negotiations adapting its demands to the specific situation of the counterparts; asks the Commission to reduce the spaghetti-bowl effect, e.g. by negotiating multilateral rules of originnd their needs, dynamics and capacities;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Reminds the Commission to carry out a better evaluation of European citizens’ interests before deciding on future FTA partners and negotiation mandates; reminds the Commission and the Council to take seriously into account Parliament’s views when deciding about the mandates;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. RegretNotes that in all high-level dialogues with our major trading partners such as the US, China, Japan and Russia only a little progress has been achieved in eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers, in particular in respect of technical standards, intellectual property rights, market access, public procurement and supply of raw materialssome few steps to develop the trade relations have been done; urges the Commission to enhance its efforts towards successful progress in our trade relations with thesedeveloping countries and encourages our trading partners to do the samethat are sharing the of sustainable development of the EU and the international community, in order to diversify its trade relations;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Reiterates that the strengthening of transatlantic economic relations must proceed; regrets that little progress has been achieved in the world’s biggest trade relationship, in particular in respect of standards and technical barriers to trade; welcomes the re launching of the TEC and encourages the par very cautiously and without threatening the EU policies in fields such as environmental standards, cultural diversity, social rights, public services; reminds that the economic crisis originated in the US and that their population is suffering from the destruction of the social services, and are not sharing the objectives tof the TEC to strive for an integrated transatlantic marketplace in the very near futureEU in terms of civil rights, development and protection of the environment;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that Parliament iIs interested in improving the EU-Japan trade relationship by focusing on removing non-tariff barriers to trade and investment as a first step; is not satisfied with the negligible progress in this area during recent years; asks the Commission to present Parliament in due course with a comprehensive impact assessment with the possible advantages and disadvantages of an EU-Japan FTA before making any commitmentgiving priority to help this country to recover from the recent natural and nuclear disasters;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Acknowledges the achievemePoints ofut the Market Access Strategy andat adequate measures to prevent the prevenpetition of protectionist measures during the financial crisis; welcomes, therefore, the Market Access Strategy and thethe recent financial and economic crisis have not been taken so far and considers that the new trade strategy should emphasise this goal ; welcomes, therefore, a close cooperation between the Commission, the Member States and the stakeholders in this sense, in order to limit volatility of capital and speculation;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Emphasises that the main reason for the relative EU’s economic success is the activdiversity of various economic operators, including both SMEs and multinationalactivities and operators, in particular SME’s, family farming, industries, the existence of a high number of qualified workers, and the still relatively good network of public services; therefore, urges the Commission to reflect in all trade negotiations and new internal regulations the specific needs and interests of different economic operatorsnecessity not to undermine those positive aspects of the European economy;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Reiterates that the eventual pursuit of further trade liberalisation makes it all the more necessary for the EU to preserve its ability to protect itself against unfair trading practices; regards Trade Defence Instruments (TDI) therefore as an indispensable component of the EU’s strategy; welcomes all efforts to streamline its TDI procedures and accessibility for Union industry, especially SMEshould be cautiously analysed in the light of the limitations of the current production system as revealed by the different recent multifaceted crises and that the Commission should propose new alternatives models different from the race to conquer new markets;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Emphasises the strongly increased potential of services in international trade, but reiterates that market access and the abolition of trade barriers at WTO level and in FTA negotiations has not been able to keep pace wany further liberalisation in this area mustn’t undermine the necessithy theseo developments; is aware that many barriers to trade in services are caused in particular by national regulation existing and future public services that are key element of sustainable development in all countries;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Demands that the Commission forceasks our trading partners to grant bettefair market access to our service providers, bearing in mind that the EU internal market is already quite openfull reciprocity should not be requested from developing countries, and considering the necessity to foreign service providers; notes, howevnforce the public control of public finances to avoid further financial crisis; consider,s that some public services have to remain excluded on the basis of national or regional cultural diversitiefrom liberalisations;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Puts the protection of investorcitizens, diversification of economic activities, sustainable development, social rights and other human rights as the first priorityies in light of the future European investment policy; asks the Commission, therefore, to secure the legal certainty of the protection granted by existing BITs and to resolve existing conflicts on the internal marketan adequate balance between the rights and obligations of investors and to guarantee the right of public authorities to keep and adopt necessary legislations to reach those goals; calls on the Council to give its mandates for future investment agreements to the Commission, taking into account Parliament’s views and positions as set out in the report by Kader Arif on ‘Future European International Investment Policy’;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Regrets that the large degree of openness of EU public procurement markets at all levels of government are in many cases not matched by commensurate access for EU suppliers abroadin other industrialized countries; points out that some public services have to remain excluded on the basis of national or regional cultural diversities; considers that the EU must respect the will of most developing countries to exclude public procurement from any multilateral and bilateral negotiations agenda, as well as the other so-called Singapore issues;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Asks that the Commission work towards positive reciprocal access in that important economic sector, bearing in mwith industrialised countries ind that the clear priority in reciprocal access is not to close our markets, but to open up foreign public procurement marketsimportant economic sector; agrees that the introduction of deliberately targeted restrictions against selected non-GPA- countries on access to parts of the EU procurement market may be needed to encourage positive reciprocity;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Stresses the increasing relevance of regulatory issues to international trade and therefore calls for greater consistency between EU rules and practices and those of our main trading partners, bearing firmly in mind that this should not bring down EU standards, but lead to a better acceptance of existingand the development of multilateral standards;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Asks the Commission to assess systematically the impact of the EU’s internal policies and regulations on global competitiveness and to give preference in its proposals to those options that are least likely to negatively affect the competrade negotiations on social rights, but also on human rights of third parties, according to international UN standards, and to make those studies available before the initialling of any trade negotiative position of EU enterprises within and outside Europons in order to give the European Parliament the chance to influence them at due time;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Asks the Commission to include the aspect of international competitivenessmpact on the situation of women’s rights and gender issue in all impact assessments related to new legislative proposaltrade negotiations;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Recalls that Parliament is committed to free and fair trade. Not only the Member States but also the Union as a whole have a social responsibility; both the EU cohesion funds and the Globalisation Adjustment Fund have to be used and further developedthe international trade policy and negotiations have to be conducted accordingly, in the interest of the people and to support the continued creation of new competitivedecent jobs within the Union and in the partner countries;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Notes that outside Europe, Parliament supports the Commission in its goal to promote - inter alia - sustainable development, international labour standards and decent work, for example by negotiating EPAs, which should combine European and ACP interests, by fostering development, by respecting and promoting regional integration, creating opportunities for trade and investment and improving economic governance, reminding all stakeholders that other regions of the globe have shown howreinforcing capacities, sustainable production and public services, creating opportunities for trade and investment including local stakeholders, considering that trade can contribute to welfare; asks the Commission for an integrated approach on trade, foreign, development, social and environmental policies;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Asks the Commission to present a proposal for the future GSP System which should include an improved focus on how the countriepopulations most in need and meetof developing cour ‘Trade and’ requirementntries can benefit from the GSP, and which should provide adequate stability for local producers; asks the Commission to prevent misapplication of the GSP System in the form of allowing even countries that have a higher per-capita GDP than EU Member States or an already very efficient economy to benefit;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Is critical of emergency tradeConsiders that trade preferences do not seem to be adequate instruments to provide urgent aid forto countries hit by natural or other disasters; asks the Commission is asked to present concrete examples ofto explore eventual alternative trade measures whichthat could bring relief to an emergency in the short term instead of only having an impact on mid- and long-term development. before asking Parliament’s consent for such measuree useful in such situations;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls on the Commission to pursue a consistent trade policy concerning raw materials with the aim of the elimination of unfair trade practices such as export restrictions, export taxes and so-called dual pricing mechanisms at multilprogressive reduction of their consumption by the EU, the intensification of recycling, development of new technologies consuming less raw materials, and bilateral levelthereby to limit the EU dependency on such products;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34a (new)
Paragraph 34a (new)
34a. Considers that the speculative and economically irrational price of food in the financial market must be addressed, as access to food is a fundamental right, and therefore considers that the right of all countries to regulate their food market must be respected, including the right to limit exports, to limit imports that could damage their production chain, and to regulate the food market through national agencies;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38a (new)
Paragraph 38a (new)
38a. Considers that developing countries should benefit from some flexibility in the field of IPR in order to reduce the gap between them and industrialised countries; asks the Commission to build a balanced policy between the protection of IPR and the necessity to ensure a massive transfer of technologies for the sustainable development and the industrialisation of developing countries;